García crashes twice in Dauphiné

As if Euskaltel hadn't already gotten off to a bad enough start in the Dauphiné, Ricardo García crashed twice in today's third stage. Luckily, he's not reported to have sustained any serious injuries.

The first tumble came about some 80 kilometres from the line of the third stage between Givors and La Clayette, but the first-year Euskaltel rider was quickly back on his back and riding again. The second was worse though, as he got locked out in the sprint for the stage and hit the deck hard inside the last 200 metres. According to the team's website, he's got scratches pretty much everywhere and his left wrist in particular is troubling him, but he's anticipated to be on the start line tomorrow.

On a more positive note, Samuel Sánchez seemed to be more at ease than in the days before as he crossed the line safely mid-pack. The Olympic champ is intent on seeing the race through, telling www.lne.es that he can't drop out of the race if he is to race the Tour de France, but wisely won't go full gas in tomorrow's 53km ITT to Bourg-en-Bresse.

"I'll take it easy", he said, adding: "but I won't risk finishing outside the time limit. As for the test I wanted to do in the mountains, I'll save that for the Tour. My overriding goal now is to recover from this setback."

While the passing of the stages will certainly help heal Samu's wounds, don't expect any fireworks this weekend; he says it "sometimes hurts a lot" and that at times "I can hardly breath". There's still more than three weeks to go before the big race gets started, though, so normally there should be time for a complete recovery.

As for the racing, Edvald Boasson Hagen took a commanding sprint win for Sky in what is likely to be the last day in this race the sprinters get their way. Before it came to the dash for the line, Egoi Martínez had joined Cofidis compatriot Luis Ángel Maté in the break of the day that at one time enjoyed a six-minute buffer on the pack. It was never going to work out though, and the duo was duly reeled back in with some 15 clicks to go. All Euskaltel riders finished inside the peloton.

General classification (full results here):

• (1, Bradley Wiggins (Sky), 13:07:55)
• 46, Gorka Verdugo, 0:35
• 57, Mikel Landa, 0:47
• 63, Egoi Martínez, 1:07
• 74, Jorge Azanza, 1:25
• 155, Alan Pérez, 16:54
• 167, Samuel Sánchez, 26:24
• 168, Ricardo García, 26:51
• 169, Peio Bilbao, 27:41

Photo: www.fundacioneuskadi.com

Sánchez gets through Dauphiné stage two

Samuel Sánchez overcame the pain and  completed today's second stage of the Dauphiné.

It was confirmed in the early morning hours that the Olympic champ would take the start after yesterday's bad crash, and the 34-year-old went on to complete the hilly stage just roughly two minutes down on victor and compatriot Daniel Moreno. Samu stayed with the pack up until they reached the bottom of the final climb, but admitted post-stage that it was all but easy.

"Just like yesterday I suffered to stay with the peloton, but we got through it", he told the team's website. "Let's hope I recover from the injury and start to feel better, but it's hurts a lot, so we'll have to be careful".

As for the stage, Mikel Landa showed he's on decent form by forming part of the 44-strong lead group that got the same finishing time as Katusha's Moreno. Martínez, Verdugo and Azanza couldn't hold the pace and ended up 18 seconds down, but after what happened yesterday you would excuse them for being more focussed on Samu than on results.

Stage two results (full results here):

• (1, Daniel Moreno (Katusha), 4:02:38)
• 20, Mikel Landa, s.t.
• 50, Jorge Azanza, 0:18
• 54, Egoi Martínez, s.t.
• 57, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 107, Ricardo García, 2:05
• 129, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 139, Peio Bilbao, 3:24
• 168, Alan Pérez, 11:43

Photo: www.cyclingnews.com

Samu update: no fracture

Samuel Sánchez did not fracture any bones in today's Dauphiné stage one.

Just a few minutes ago, the team wrote on its website that fractures were discarded after check-ups at a local hospital. He did take a "very painful" hit to his ribs though, and will decide on his further participation tomorrow morning.

Here's the official communiqué.

Latest: According to team DS Gorka Gerrikagoitia's Twitter-account, Samu will line up later today (Tuesday).

Check out the video below to see just what kind of pain the Euskaltel team leader was in upon crossing the line:

Sánchez crashes in Dauphiné; extent unknown

Samuel Sánchez's Tour de France hopes took a major hit today as he crashed heavily in today's first stage proper of the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Olympic champ got up and finished the stage, but was immediately transported to a local hospital for check-ups.

As you can see from the pic above (or not, it's admittedly a pretty lousy photo), Samu was in some pain as he crossed the finish line at the end of the 187km stage from Seyssins to Saint-Vallier dead last, a full 23:54 in arrears. The 34-year-old hit the deck with force after approximately 50 clicks, but bravely got up and finished the stage - reportedly with several broken ribs. He was immediately taken to hospital, but since then there's been no updates. The team has promised to keep us all updated through the evening though, so stay tuned.

After his unfortunate incident, he was taken care of by team-mates Peio Bilbao and Ricardo García. The trio were miles behind the others, but that's of course of minor importance right now. If he did indeed break a few ribs, it would, less than four weeks before the big kick-off, be a serious dent in the team's Tour plans. On a positive note though, you could say it can't possibly be that bad if he managed to ride almost 140 kilometres with the injury. Anyway, speculation doesn't really clear anything up, so we're forced to wait for news from the team.

The racing itself wasn't all that bad, with Cadel Evans escaping along with Jerôme Coppel and Andrey Kashechkin in the closing stretches and holding off the peloton to take a surprising, and quite impressive, victory. Wiggins inherited the leader's jersey from Luke Durbridge, as the Brit formed part of the main group to cross the line four seconds down on the breakaway foursome. In that first group was Martínez, Verdugo and Landa, so at least all hope of a good overall placing from the team wasn't lost today.

Check back later for all the latest concerning Samu's state of health. 

Stage one results:

• (1, Cadel Evans (BMC), 4:36:21)
• 33, Egoi Martínez, 0:04
• 51, Gorka Verdugo, s.t.
• 63, Mikel Landa, s.t.
• 122, Jorge Azanza, 0:42
• 156, Alan Pérez, 4:24
• 173, Ricardo García, 23:54
• 174, Peio Bilbao, s.t.
• 175, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.

Photo: www.cyclingnews.com

Potent team for Tour de Suisse

Euskaltel will bring a star-studded team to the Tour de Suisse, the team's website reveals.

The Swiss stage-race, running from 9-17 of June, will see the following Euskaltel octet line up: Igor Antón, Mikel Astarloza, Gorka Izagirre, Mikel Nieve, Romain Sicard, Pablo Urtasun, Rubén Pérez and Iván Velasco.

Astarloza, Izagirre and Pérez, and perhaps also Sicard and Urtasun, will be looking to hone their form for the Tour de France starting at the end of the current month, while Nieve and Velasco will be hoping to capitalize on the form acquired in the recent Giro d'Italia. Antón's appearance marks his first race back since he broke his collarbone in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Check out the stages here. 

Prologue agony in Dauphiné

No, no one crashed. And neither is it the most important race of the year. But still: only two Euskaltel riders were to be found inside the top 100 on today's Critérium du Dauphiné prologue.

In what is quickly becoming a habit, Gorka Verdugo was the strongest orange-clad rider in 58th, no more than 18 seconds down on victor Luke Durbridge. Not too shabby in other words. Team captain Samuel Sánchez took it easy over the 5,7km in Grenoble it seems by posting the 117th best time, a full 30 seconds off the pace. Not surprisingly, Euskaltel placed next to last in the team standings - only Lampre did worse.

Prologue results:

• (1, Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge), 6:38)
• 58, Gorka Verdugo, 0:18
• 98, Peio Bilbao, 0:28
• 108, Egoi Martínez, 0:30
• 110, Jorge Azanza, s.t.
• 117, Samuel Sánchez, s.t.
• 122, Alan Pérez, 0:32
• 149, Ricardo García, 0:37
• 169, Mikel Landa, 0:48 

Photo: www.fundacioneuskadi.com

Durán repeats as Bekaert takes Navarra overall

Arkaitz Durán grabbed consecutive stage-wins in the Vuelta a Navarra by taking out today's concluding stage, while Belgian Steve Bekaert (pictured above) easily hung onto his overall lead to claim a win that will do his chances of turning professional next year no harm.

The final stage from Javier to the regional capital of Pamplona was a relatively uncomplicated one for the young Belgian. Durán, who was no threat on GC, escaped to take the stage, his eighth victory of the year, solo by 24 seconds, while Bekaert stayed with the first chasing group to finish 28 seconds down and thus defended his overall lead from team-mate Wellens (who'll turn pro with the senior squad  on the 1st of July) and Bidelan's Joseba del Barrio in third.

Mikel Iturria gave Naturgas some presence by being a part of that group en route to a 24th place on the stage, but otherwise it was slim pickings for the Fundación Euskadi outfit. Larrinaga ended up as best placed on GC in 25th.

Former Orbea rider Noel Martín completed his excellent performance in the race by taking fourth on the final stage and thus securing the same placing overall. Chapeau!

Stage five results:

• 1, Arkaitz Durán (Azysa), 3:13:51
• 2, Vicente García (Gsport - Valencia Terra i Mar), 0:24
• 3, Thomas Sprengers (Lotto-Belisol-Davo), s.t.
• 4, Noel Martín (Supermercados Froiz), s.t.
• 5, Ibai Salas (Caja Rural), s.t.
• 24, Mikel Iturria (Naturgas Energía), 0:28
• 39, Jon Larrinaga (Naturgas Energía), 1:07
• 60, Víctor Etxeberria (Naturgas Energía), 5:14
• 77, Alain González (Naturgas Energía), 11:50
• 81, Francisco Javier Martín (Naturgas Energía), 14:49

Final general classification:

• 1, Steve Bekaert (Lotto-Belisol-Davo), 17:32:03
• 2, Tim Wellens (Lotto-Belisol-Davo), 0:22
• 3, Joseba del Barrio (Bidelan-Kirolgi), 0:56
• 4, Noel Martín (Supermercados Froiz), 1:00
• 5, Ariel Sivori (Azysa), 1:02
• 25, Jon Larrinaga (Naturgas Energía), 5:16
• 40, Mikel Iturria (Naturgas Energía), 17:34
• 43, Víctor Etxeberria (Naturgas Energía), 19:51
• 76, Alain González (Naturgas Energía), 54:56
• 95, Francisco Javier Martín (Naturgas Energía), 1:22:58

Víctor Etxeberria ended up as the second best from the region (behind Lizarte's Martin Iraizoz), while the team ended up 12th in the teams' classification.

Photo: www.fotoalbum.seniorennet.be

Durán shows his worth in Navarra stage 4

Arkaitz Durán climbed to his seventh win of the year in yesterday's fourth stage of the Vuelta a Navarra. Jon Larrinaga was Naturgas' top rider in 36th.

The 132km leg from Lesaka to San Miguel de Aralar was always going to be tough on the peloton with its four categorized climbs, the last one, a cat.1, also the site of the finish line. Breaks struggled to form under overnight leader Steve Bekaert's team Lotto-Belisol-Davo's relentless high pace throughout, and it was all to play for on the ultimate climb.

Durán distanced former Andorra-Grandvalira pro Eduard Prades, the Catalan who recently took out the overall Copa de España, by 29 seconds, while Lizarte's own former pro, Higinio Fernández, grabbed the last place on the podium 53 seconds down. Bekaert had a great ride to fourth to maintain his overall lead.

Larrinaga was once again the team's strongest rider, taking 36th at 2:38, and is now 22nd on GC.

Today's 130km lumpy fifth stage into Pamplona will bring the curtains down on this year's Vuelta a Navarra.

Stage four results:

• 1, Arkaitz Durán (Azysa), 3:33:30
• 2, Eduard Prades (Mopesa), 0:29
• 3, Higino Fernández (Lizarte), 0:53
• 4, Steve Bekaert (Lotto-Belisol-Davo), 1:00
• 5, Tim Wellens (Lotto-Belisol-Davo), 1:02
• 36, Jon Larrinaga (Naturgas Energía), 2:38
• 40, Mikel Iturria (Naturgas Energía), 5:04
• 53, Alain González (Naturgas Energía), 6:44
• 58, Víctor Etxeberria (Naturgas Energía), 10:30
• 90, Francisco Javier Martín (Naturgas Energía), 17:07

Photo: www.diariovasco.com

Jon Pardo comes out tops in Ataun

Basque 24-year-old Jon Pardo emerged victorious from today's Torneo Euskaldun-race in Ataun.

The native of Lukin, Navarra, escaped with Aisala SC's Asier Bolívar, Bidelan's Beñat Txoperena, Caja Rural's Eddy Valdespino and Reyno de Navarra's Raul Martínez going over the last climb of the day, the Urkillaga. The former trio dislodged the Cuban, Valdespino, and Martínez, and were left to fight it out for the win, the Basque Cycling Federation's website writes. Pardo, formerly of Seguros Bilbao and a pro last year with Onda-Boavista, handed his French team Entente Sud Gascogne a welcome win, besting Bolívar and Txoperena in that order.

The race also counted as the provincial championships of Gipuzkoa. Ioritz Urdangarin of local team Bidelan took out the sub-23 crown courtesy of his eighth place, while Kepa Ochoa of Kanpanzar won the elite category.

A pair of top domestic cyclo-crossers made their mark on the race. Javier Ruíz de Larrinaga placed seventh for his Lizarte team, while Egoitz Murgoitio took out the mountains classification.

Results:

• 1, Jon Pardo (Entente Sud Gascogne), 3:00:09
• 2, Asier Bolívar (Aisala SC), s.t.
• 3, Beñat Txoperena (Bidelan-Kirolgi), s.t.
• 4, Eddy Valdespino (Caja Rural), 0:35
• 5, Miguel Ángel Benito (Caja Rural), 0:39
• 6, Ander Barrenetxea (Opel Ibaigane), 0:55
• 7, Javier Ruíz de Larrinaga (Lizarte), s.t.
• 8, Ioritz Urdangarin (Bidelan-Kirolgi), s.t.
• 9, Unai Intziarte (Bidelan-Kirolgi), 1:39
• 10, Kepa Ochoa (Kanpanzar Harrobia), 1:48

Photo: www.ciclismosb.com

Just in: Euskaltel stars to stay

Reports coming out of Spain Saturday morning indicate the team's biggest stars will still ride for Euskaltel in 2013.

The lack of clarification on the direction the team will be taking beyond the current season has led to speculation about the future of the outfit's most important riders. However, trustworthy Bilbao-based daily El Correo today has it that these speculations have been laid to rest as they claim "Euskaltel will continue and reinforce its commitment to cycling". Sánchez, Antón, Nieve, and the youngsters like Ion Izagirre and Mikel Landa, thus have a team for next year it says: Euskaltel-Euskadi.

El Correo claim to have this information from "sourced contacted by the newspaper", and further goes on to state what's been widely anticipated: that telecommunications firm Euskaltel will assume complete control of the team and up their current contribution (which has been at approximately 3 million euro the last few years). The team will continue to rely on institutional support from the Basque government and the Provincial Councils within the Basque Country.

It's believed, though not confirmed, that the team will have a budget of around 8-9 million euro from 2013 and beyond. Statements from Miguel Madariaga in Marca yesterday, where he said the team might turn Continental next year, thus appear to be wide off the mark and wholly unrealistic.

Photo: www.deia.com

Naturgas struggle as Bekaert nabs stage and lead

Lotto-Belisol-Davo grabbed back-to-back stage wins in the Vuelta a Navarra today as Steve Bekaert soloed to the win and the overall lead, building on team-mate Wouter Wippert's triumph yesterday. Naturgas Energía struggled to impose themselves on the hilly terrain and had to settle for 18th through Jon Larrinaga.

Stage three, a 143,8km ride from Pitillas to Alto de Izpegi, was always going to be decisive with its summit finish, and 21-year-old Belgian Bekaert turned out to be the strongest by winning ten seconds ahead of Extramadura-Spiuk's Adrián Alvarado and a further five seconds ahead of Caja Rural's Dario Hernández. Overall leader Ignacio Pérez, so convincing on day one, came in more than six minutes in arrears and naturally had to let go of his jersey.

Naturgas found it hard to animate the racing and once again had to rely on Jon Larrinaga for a decent result. The 21-year-old climbed to 18th on the stage, 2:59 down, and now occupies the same position overall. Karl Baudron and Alain Santamaría both pulled out.

In the "Local rider"-classification, Etxeberria is now ranked second.

Former Orbea and Naturgas Energía rider Noel Martín, now riding for Supermercados Froiz, had a great day in the saddle. The 22-year-old looked threatening in the day's main break and, after having been caught, managed to cling onto eighth on the stage. Overall he's seventh at just 35 seconds.

Stage 3 results:

• 1, Steve Bekaert (Lotto-Belisol-Devo), 3:40:22
• 2, Adrián Alvarado (Extramadura-Spiuk), 0:10
• 3, Dario Hernández (Caja Rural), 0:15
• 18, Jon Larrinaga (Naturgas Energía), 2:59
• 38, Víctor Etxeberria (Naturgas Energía), 5:35
• 66, Mikel Iturria (Naturgas Energía), 13:30
• 79, Alain González (Naturgas Energía), 14:30
• 104, Francisco Javier Martín (Naturgas Energía), 24:23

Photo: www.fundacioneuskadi.com

"I want to stay, but things are taking too long..."

Those are the words of Samuel Sánchez. As the team's main asset and one of the peloton's stand-out performers, suitors are naturally lining up for him as Euskaltel's future continues to be the subject of conjecture. Talking to Marca, the affable Asturian reiterated his desire to stay on with the only team of his professional career, but also issued a warning.

"Right now I've got a couple of firm offers on the table", he said. "My wish is, as I've always said, to continue with Euskaltel, but things are taking too long. Still we don't know anything. And the offers I've received come with an expiration date."

Back in January it was said that a decision would be taken in May. May has now turned to June and an official word from, well, anyone is still left wanting. It's strongly believed that telephone company Euskaltel will go public with their plans for the outfit some time before the Tour de France kicks off, but Samu says the wait has already had a destabilizing effect on the team.

"It bothers me, but it's a bigger worry for the team. But there's not much I can do about it", he explained.

The 2008 Olympic champ, who was earlier today selected to represent his country in the London Games, refused to set a deadline on when he would have to make a decision, but said that clarification on the team's future would, "desirably", should come before the start of the Grand Boucle. 

Photo: www.diariovasco.com

Samu: "I'm aiming for the podium"

Despite Alberto Contador being absent and a clear number-one favourite missing, Samuel Sánchez refuses to aim for the top step of the podium in July's Tour de France. Some four weeks before the grand départ, the Euskaltel leader is fixing his sights on the podium.

"As I've never won a Grand Tour, I'm not aspiring for the victory", he told Marca's Josu Garai. "That's why my goal is the top three. Contador's absence hurts my chances though - to some it's an advantage, but not to me. His style of riding, attacking and forcing a selection, suits me. I feel Wiggins and Evans are the top candidates, but we'll also have to watch out for Tony Martin's progression. And there's also Gesink, who's improved in the race against the clock".

This year's parcours is laden with time trial kilometres, 101,4 to be precise. Whether that's an advantage or not for the 34-year-old remains to be seen, but he's most of all happy there's no team time trial - naturally.

"There are a lot of crono kilometres this year, but everyone will have to get over the climbs all the same. If I'm in shape, TTs are good for me. But, instead of the time trial distance, what inspires me the most is the lack of a TTT - they usually handicap me".

Samu will head up the team's charge in the Dauphiné which commences this Sunday, and is off the back of a two week spell at altitude in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. He decided to head to France early though to scout out a so far untested climb which will feature in stage seven.

"I travelled to France on Thursday in order to check out the end of the seventh stage, the Planche des Belles Filles. All the other climbs we already know."

In the Dauphiné, Samu will be accompanied by Gorka Verdugo, Ricardo García, Egoi Martínez, Mikel Landa, Alan Pérez, Peio Bilbao and Jorge Azanza. 

Samu selected for Olympics

Samuel Sánchez will get the chance to defend his Olympic Games gold medal from 2008 as he's one of five Spaniards picked by national team coach José Luis De Santos for the London Games, www.cicloweb.it reports.

Samu has been chosen alongside Rabobank's Luís León Sánchez, Katusha's Óscar Freire and Movistar duo Alejandro Valverde and José Joaquín Rojas. In other words the team everyone expected.

Samu will, alongside namesake Luís León, ride both the road race and the time trial. The former is held on July the 28th, while the race against the clock gets underway four days later.